Improvement in office-indicators



Improvements in Office-'Door Indicators, of

jamb or casing against which the door closes.

fastenings s passing through perforations in EDVARD H. GLIDDEN, OFSOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN 0 Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 20

FIFICIE-INDICATORS.

8,166, dated September-17, 1878; application filed July 31, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARDH. GLIDDEN, of Somerville, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain which thefollowing is a specification:

This invention relates to indicators to be left on the outside of thedoor of an apartment to give information in regard to the proprietorwhen he is absent; and it has for its object to provide means whereby anindicator may be conveniently applied to a door, and at the same time besecured so that it cannot be readily removed without opening the door,thus obviating in a great measure the liability of the indicator beingstolen, and so enabling a more comprehensive and convenient, andtherefore'expensive, indicator to be exposed on a door without fear ofloss by theft.

.The invention consists in the construction of an indicator-holder, andin the combination of the same 'with an indicator, a door, and its jambor casing, whereby the indicator is ena' bled to be readily inserted inand removed from the holder when the door is opened, but is preventedfrom being removed when the door is closed, as I will now proceed todescribe. 3

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 represents a perspective view of the indicator-holder. Fig. 2represents a similar view, showing the indicator inclosed in the holder.Fig. 3 represents a horizontal section, showing the holder and indicatorapplied to the outer edge of a closed door; and Fig.4 represents avertical section of the door, indicator, and holder.

Similar letters refer to like parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, D represents a portion of the outer edge of a door, andJ represents the A represents the indicator-holder, which is made,preferably, of cast metal, and is in the general form of a rectangularbox, provided at oneend with an opening, 0, and in its front side withan opening, 0, and is adapted to be attached to the door by'screws orother its inner side. The end opening, 0, is of sufficient size toreceive the indicator to be held and permit the insertion thereof in tothe holder; but the side opening, 0, is only for the purpose ofdisplaying the indicator, and isnot large enough to permit the removalof the lat ter. The holder is secured to the outside of a door, D, andis arranged in such relation to the outer edge of the door that when thelatter is closed the jamb or casingJ will obstruct or close the opening0, as shown in Fig. 3, thus preventing the removal of the indicator fromthe holder so long as the door .is closed. I represents the indicator,which may be of any desired construction. The form and size of theindicator are such that it will pass through the opening 0 but notthrough the opening '0.

I prefer to construct the indicator with a casing, c, of sheet metal,containing a series of rotary drums, d, on which are mounted strips ofpaper containing suitable words and characters.

The casing c is provided with slots 8 s in its front side to exposeportions of the strips,

.and the drums are mounted on arbors a,w.hich

project from one end of the casing c, and are provided with thumb-knobs,whereby said arbors and drums may be rotated -to expose differentportions of the strips to View through the slots .9.

When the indicator is inserted in the holder A the slotted side of theformer is visible through the opening 0 of the latter, and the arbors aproject toward the open end of the holder.

I prefer to construct the holder with a comparatively wide strip, S, onits front side, between the openings 0 and 0, said strip covering thespace S between the end of the indicator and the jamb or casing J, asshown in Fig. 3, and thus preventing any one from tampering with orrotating the arbors a.

I prefer to employ three drums, d, in the indicator, and on the twouppermost mount a long strip of cloth or paper, having upon it anydesired aggregation of words, numerals, &c., the strip being adapted tobe transferred from one drum to the other by the rotation of the drums,the movement thus impart-ed cans in g the strip to pass across one ofthe slots 8,

exposing different portions of its surface to View. To the other drum 1aifix a strip con taining the names of the days of the week,

visible through the lower slot, s.

When the occupant of an office or other apartment wishes to vacate hisroom and leave notice on his door, he opens the door, inserts theindicator into the holder, and then closes the door, thereby securingthe indicator so that it cannot be removed excepting by forciblywrenching the holder off or by opening the door.

It will be seen that as the screws 8, which attach the holder to thedoor, pass through the back side of the holder they are covered by theindicator, so that they cannot be removed while the indicator is inplace. Hence the holder and indicator mutually protect each other.

I do not limit myself to the precise form and construction of the holdershown, as the form and details of construction can be readily yaried,according to the taste or fancy of the maker, without departing from thespirit of my invention.

The open end of the holder may be adjacent to the inner edge of the doorinstead of the outer, if desired, and in case the jainb or casing is notadapted to obstruct the end of the holder, as described, a suitableprojection or bracket may be aftixed in any convenient manner to form anobstruction.

I claim as my invention In combination with a door, 1), and jamb J, or

its specified-equivalent, the holder A, attached to the outside of thedoor close to its edge,

and provided in its outer side with an indi- EDWARD H. GLIDDEN.

YVitnesses:

GEO. NV. PIERCE, G. F. BROWN.

